Skip to main content

Digital Trends may earn a commission when you buy through links on our site. Why trust us?

Scooter rallies attract two-wheeler fans who don't take themselves too seriously

Scooter riders turned out in force for the 2017 Skegness Scooter Rally. Like other scooter rallies in the U.K. and the U.S., Skegness is all about the people, tent and van camping, music, and loads and loads of scooters.

Skegness is a seaside town on England’s North Sea coast of Lincolnshire, with a population under 20,000. When the scooters descend on Skegness, well ahead of England’s summer season, the two-wheelers and their riders stand out.

Recommended Videos

A wide variety of scooters showed up at Skegness. Some were fairly new models with little if any visible modification.

Some people festoon their scooters with mirrors and lights. Putting extra lights on your ride surely can help oncoming traffic see the relatively small scooters, but extra mirrors are a unique adornment with no apparent practical benefit.

While still others convert their smaller rides chopper-style.

Camping is a big part of U.K. scooter rallies. From the event photos it looks like motor homes and vans line up around the camping area perimeter while the majority of attendees stay in tents. At least one rider gave his bike first preference for tent space, demonstrating his priorities clearly.

If you missed Skegness, it’s not too late for more scooter rally fun in 2017. The same group that puts together the Skegness Scooter Rally is running the Boston “Run to the Stump” Rally August 4 to 5, 2017. However, this is Boston, Lincolnshire in the U.K., not the one in Massachusetts. Details will be available on the Skegness Scooter Rally Facebook page.

The biggest U.S. scooter event this year will be AmeriVespa, held in Seattle, Washington from July 5 to July 9, sponsored by the Vespa Club of America. You don’t have to drive a Vespa to participate in AmeriVespa, all scooter owners are welcome. And if you want to attend to see what all the noise is about, you don’t even have to own a scooter — you can rent one at Scoot About in Seattle.

Bruce Brown
Bruce Brown Contributing Editor   As a Contributing Editor to the Auto teams at Digital Trends and TheManual.com, Bruce…
Plug-in hybrids are becoming more popular. Why? And will it continue?
Kia Niro EV Charging Port

There's a lot of talk about the idea that the growth in electric car sales has kind of slowed a little. It's not all that surprising -- EVs are still expensive, early adopters all have one by now, and they're still new enough to where there aren't too many ultra-affordable used EVs available. But plenty of people still want a greener vehicle, and that has given rise to an explosion in hybrid vehicle sales.

That's especially true of plug-in hybrid vehicles, which can be charged like an EV and driven in all-electric mode for short distances, and have a gas engine as a backup for longer distances or to be used in combination with electric mode for more efficient driving.

Read more
EV drivers are not going back to gas cars, global survey says
ev drivers are not going back to gas cars global survey says screenshot

Nearly all current owners of electric vehicles (EVs) are either satisfied or very satisfied with the experience, and 92% of them plan to buy another EV, according to a survey by the Global EV Drivers Alliance.

The survey of 23,000 EV drivers worldwide found that only 1% would return to a petrol or diesel car, while 4% would opt for a plug-in hybrid (PHEV) if they had to replace their car.

Read more
Trump team in sync with Tesla on ending crash-reporting requirements, report says
Beta of Tesla's FSD in a car.

The transition team of President-elect Donald Trump is planning to end existing car-crash reporting requirements to safety regulators, according to a Reuters report.

The report cites a document obtained by Reuters that lays out the transition team’s 100-day strategy for automotive policy. In the document, the team says the crash-reporting requirement leads to “excessive” data collection, Reuters says.

Read more